We Are All Going To Be Poor, Eating Soup

Yesterday, 499 stocks dropped in the S&P 500, except one – Campbell’s Soup. Does Wall Street expect soup sales to increase in these tough economic times? Soup isn’t cheap, my friends, but then again the only soup I buy is Campbell’s Chunky Soup (thanks, Mama McNabb!), and it’s $3 a can. That’s like $2.90 more than a packet of ramen.

Drunk History x J.D. Ryznar

The delightful minds of Derek Waters’ Drunk History and J.D. Ryznar (Yacht Rock, Homeless James Bond) combine to produce this wonderful piece of edutainment. The story of William Henry Harrison reminds us why we shouldn’t elect an old dude president.

More Drunk History
More J.D. Ryznar

This Makes Me Smile

You know, if the Phillie Phanatic actually was launching homemade bombs in the city, the citizens of Philadelphia probably wouldn’t mind because a) he’s the Phillie Fucking Phanatic and b) things are looking good now. The Phils are a few wins from clinching a playoff spot and the Eagles started off well. I’m sure this situation was potentially scary at first, but in hindsight, you can’t help but chuckle at the fact that the antics of the greatest mascot ever caused such a stir.

Hot dogs outside Philly ballpark cause bomb scare

PHILADELPHIA – After a bomb scare at the Philadelphia Phillies’ ballpark, authorities pointed the finger at a fuzzy green suspect — The Phillie Phanatic.

Hours before the Phillies-Atlanta Braves’ game on Wednesday night, a film crew shot a commercial of the mascot shooting heavily wrapped hot dogs from a launcher.

But someone inadvertently left three of the duct taped hot dogs outside the ballpark, sparking security fears. Stadium employees were evacuated and the bomb squad was called in.

Only after the packages were blown up did authorities realize they’d just exploded some sausages.

“We saw something that looked suspicious,” said Michael Stiles, Phillies senior vice president, administration and operations. “We did the right thing. It turned out to be nothing. We could have gone over and picked it up and thrown it in the trash and been done with it. But if we had been wrong, somebody might have lost an arm.”

After the detonation, the game went on as scheduled.

“I’d rather them blow up some hot dogs or some ketchup and mustard and relish than have it be a real bomb,” reliever Chad Durbin said. “Better safe than sorry.”

You Should Eat at a Restaurant Alone Sometime

Because you get to see things others miss while they are lost in meaningless conversation. For example, while I was eating lunch today at the Rye Deli, I looked out the window to see a man in a black velour Fila tracksuit and a Yankees cap drag a chair from the deli’s patio into the sunlight in the middle of the sidewalk. He proceeded to lean back and drink in the sun for a quick midday nap. Oh, and he had a mustache, and it was amazing.

I was the only one in the restaurant who noticed. Perhaps he was just a figment of my imagination.

Coming Soon: School Bus Ads

I’m not going to pretend I know everything about school budgeting issues, but when there is talk of selling ads on the inside of school buses, obviously something is very wrong. Unless the ads promote after-school programs or youth activities, which I doubt, this is just bad. Shame on the school boards, local governments, and state governments who let this happen. And shame on any advertiser that places ads in the buses should this go through.

Strapped for Cash, Schools Eye Bus Ads
Several Michigan Districts in Talks to Accept Ads on Kids’ Transportation

By Emily Bryson York

Published: September 15, 2008
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — In addition to the usual yakking, fighting, kvetching and comparing of lunches, kids on Michigan school buses may soon be gawking at ads. A number of the state’s cash-strapped school districts are in talks with marketing groups to broker deals to sell ads on buses.

“Times are hard,” said Mike Gwizdala, director-transportation at Bay City public schools. “The fuel prices are definitely affecting all transportation, whether it’s a school bus or a metro bus. It’s definitely having an effect on a lot of people, and school districts are in that boat.”

Terry Prewitt, executive director-financial services at Saginaw public schools, said he’s reviewing several vendor proposals. He added that any ads would have to be “age-appropriate” and “subject-appropriate.” Saginaw transports nearly 1,000 children every week. The vast majority of them are under age 12.

It is illegal to advertise on the outside of school buses in Michigan. Any ads must be placed inside.

Mike Eichhorn, president of Crossroads Marketing & Consulting in Davison, Mich., is one of the vendors competing for the Saginaw contract. He hopes to score business with major national advertisers by creating a cooperative of Michigan school districts. He also has had discussions with representatives of Bay City and Goodrich public schools and is meeting with Detroit public school representatives this week.

Full article at adage.com.

Big City Nights

Lazy post. Classic video. Poor Charles.

Daft Punk – “Da Funk” (1996)
Directed by Spike Jonze

Pet Peeve #1

I have a weird pet peeve. I hate it when people spell the band name Led Zeppelin wrong. Z-E-P-P-E-L-I-N. Why does everyone forget the second “e”?

It’s right there on the slipmat!

Save Muxtape

Usually it’s all fun and games on this corner of the internet, but it’s time to get serious for a sec. Muxtape, one of my favorite websites to discover new music, is in a conflict with the RIAA, thus it is temporarily unavailable.

Let’s be honest and say it never was a question whether the RIAA would shut down Muxtape, but rather when it would shut it down. Even though Muxtape never received complaints from any artists or labels, the RIAA stepped in last month and put enough pressure on the creator of the site to have it temporarily removed.

I’ll make my pro-Muxtape argument short and sweet. The best part of the service is that users, for the most part, uploaded tapes as creative expressions of their tastes, emotions, and general love of music. It was never about being another avenue to pirate music. There were actual people behind the tapes, and not algorithms like on Pandora. Forgive me for using marketing jargon, but these people are “brand ambassadors” for the artists included on their tapes. And that’s a VERY powerful thing to have if you want to sell a product.

I would love to see Muxtape come back, and it probably could if it adopted an ad-supported system to help pay fees to ASCAP, BMI, and the other music publishing organizations. Bonus points if those ads are relevant to the users of Muxtape, as in music and culture-related ads.

That is all.

If Home Improvement Was Filmed in 2008

If Home Improvement was filmed in 2008, a line of Binford tools would be created by Black and Decker and sold at The Home Depot.

If Home Improvement was filmed in 2008, Tool Time, the show within a show, would have its own series of webisodes.

If Home Improvement was filmed in 2008, Heidi would have her own blog with DIY tool projects, but most people would visit the site just to see pictures of her in sexy poses.

If Home Improvement was filmed in 2008, you could download a Wilson Picture Generator application for your iPhone that would put an image of a fence in front of people’s faces when you take their picture with your phone.

Oh, if only Home Improvement was filmed in 2008.